In Celebration of Wilderness

Add to America’s record of natural history; win a Smithsonian spot

By Ashley Brotherton

Your photographs could hang in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, home to the world’s largest diamond, a triceratops and mummies.
Fifty inspired images will join that rare collection through the Wilderness Forever 50 photography competition, which celebrates Lyndon B. Johnson’s signing the Wilderness Act 50 years ago.
Our natural treasury of wilderness amounts to more than 100 million acres. Wildernesses — “rare, wild places where one can retreat from civilization, reconnect with the Earth, and find healing, meaning and significance” — have been preserved in 44 states. Alas, you won’t find one in Maryland. But Virginia has two dozen, and New Jersey and Pennsylvania two each.
There are professional, amateur and student categories. Judges reward “technical quality, originality and artistic merit.” Submit up to 20 pictures and the stories behind them by Sept. 3 to www.naturesbestphotography.com/wilderness.php. The Wilderness Forever 50 competition is sponsored by The Sierra Club, the Smithsonian Institute and Nature’s Best Photography.